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July 02, 2007
Compensating globalization's losers, redux
Echoing Julian Sanchez's argument against compensating globalization's losers, Alex Tabarrok writes:
Imagine that transportation costs fall so that Joe buys his shoes from China. Why do lower transportation costs impose an obligation on Joe to compensate Mary, a U.S. shoe maker? If transportation costs rise (say because the price of oil increases) does Mary have an obligation to compensate Joe?...Of course, I understand that we might have to compensate the losers from globalization because without compensation they won't allow us to trade... It might be expedient... but is this justice?
Posted by Dingel at July 2, 2007 04:51 PM